One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

From New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo and Caldecott Medal winning illustrator David Small, comes a cool tale about an unlikely friendship.

On a spontaneous visit to the aquarium, straight-laced and proper Elliot discovers his dream pet: a penguin. When he asks his father if he may have one (please and thank you), his father says yes. Elliot should have realized that Dad was probably thinking of a toy penguin, not a real one… Clever illustrations and a wild surprise ending make this sly, silly tale a kid-pleaser from start to finish.

Toni Buzzeo (tonibuzzeo.com), a former English teacher and elementary school librarian, divides her time between Sarasota, Florida, and Buxton, Maine. David Small (davidsmallbooks.com) is a Caldecott Medal winner, National Book Award finalist, and Christopher Award winner, among other honors. The illustrator of more than forty books, he lives in southern Michigan.

Unrated Critic Reviews for One Cool Friend

Kirkus Reviews

In line with Buzzeo’s elegantly spare text, Small uses neutral washes with loosely drawn lines and highlights of restrained color to depict the urbane lad and his equally dapper companion making themselves comfortably at home in upper-crust digs.

PreS-Gr 2—Elliot, a tuxedo-clad boy who prefers avoiding "masses of noisy kids," reluctantly agrees to join his father at the aquarium's Family Fun Day. However, the day's silver lining is found in black and white—penguins, to be exact. Elliot decides they would make a perfect pet, so he pilfers ...